Rip music from a CD in Windows Media Center

You can rip (or copy) tracks from your audio CDs to your computer using Windows Media Center. The files will be stored on your computer (usually in the My Music folder) so that you can always access them in Media Center, even when your audio CD is not inserted.

To rip music from an audio CD

If Media Center is not in full-screen mode, click the Maximize button
in the upper-right corner of the window.

Insert an audio CD into the CD-ROM drive on your computer. The CD will start playing automatically.

On the Now Playing screen, click Rip CD. (If you navigated away from the Now Playing screen, you can always return there from the Windows Media Center start screen by scrolling to Music, clicking Music library, clicking Albums, and then clicking the CD you inserted.)

If this is the first time you've ripped a CD, follow the instructions on the CD Ripping Options screen. (You won't see this screen the next time you rip a CD.)

In the Rip CD dialog box, click Yes to rip the tracks to your computer. The ripped music files are automatically added to your Music library.

Notes

Some rip settings, such as the file format and bit rate of the ripped music files, are determined by the settings specified in Windows Media Player. For more information about changing the settings in Windows Media Player, see Change settings for ripping music.

On the CD Ripping Options screen, you can choose whether or not you want the ripped files to be protected with media usage rights. For more information about copy protection, see Rip music: frequently asked questions.

When you insert an audio CD, it might start playing or ripping automatically depending on your AutoPlay settings. For more information, see Change AutoPlay settings.

Note

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of copyrighted material may be a violation of copyright law in the United States and/or other countries/regions. Copyrighted material includes, but is not limited to, software, documentation, graphics, lyrics, photographs, clipart, animations, movie and video clips, as well as sound and music (including when MP3 encoded). Violation of U.S. and international copyright laws may subject you to significant civil and/or criminal penalties.

You can rip (or copy) tracks from your audio CDs to your computer using Windows Media Center. After that, the tracks that you rip become digital media files on your computer. Settings such as the format of the file—for example, Windows Media Audio (WMA) or MP3—and bit rate for the files are determined by the settings specified in Windows Media Player. For more information about changing the settings in Windows Media Player, see Change settings for ripping music.

Insert an audio CD into the CD-ROM drive on your computer, and then open Windows Media Center.

On the start screen, click now playing, and then click Copy CD.

If you have not ripped audio CDs before in Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center, follow and complete the steps on the Copy Options screens.

In the Copy CD dialog box, click Yes to rip the tracks to your computer. The ripped music tracks are automatically added to your music library.

Note

When you insert an audio CD, it may start playing or ripping automatically depending on your AutoPlay settings. See Change AutoPlay settings for more information.

Note

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of copyrighted material may be a violation of copyright law in the United States and/or other countries/regions. Copyrighted material includes, but is not limited to, software, documentation, graphics, lyrics, photographs, clipart, animations, movie and video clips, as well as sound and music (including when MP3 encoded). Violation of U.S. and international copyright laws may subject you to significant civil and/or criminal penalties.